Weymouth police warn about car-wrap and electric-bill scams

The Weymouth Police Department is warning residents and businesses about recent car wrapping and money scams.

Cody Shepard The Enterprise @cshepard_ENT

WEYMOUTH – The police department is warning residents and businesses about increased reports of scams that involve car wrapping and use of Green Dot MoneyPak cards.

The department said Thursday morning on its Facebook page that several residents and businesses have fallen victim to the scams recently.

In the car-wrapping scam, people are told via email that they can make several hundreds dollars per week if they get their cars wrapped with a brand’s logo. Police say the scammers make the deal enticing by telling residents they can remove the wrapping after a certain period of time.

If the offer is accepted, the scammer sends a check for a large amount of money – the amount depending on the length of time the person agrees to be a mobile advertiser.

Police say the check-cashing instructions say that a certain portion is to be kept as payment and the rest is to be sent via wire transfer to the company that will supposedly wrap the person’s vehicle. But after the money is wired, the check bounces, because it is fake.

Several local businesses have fallen victim to the Green Dot MoneyPak scam, the police department said.

Businesses are first contacted by phone. The scammer identifies himself as being with an electric company and says the business’ electric service will be shut off if a bill is not paid immediately. The call recipient is instructed to purchase Green Dot MoneyPak cards at a local store and then to provide the numbers from the prepaid cards.

MoneyPaks are generally safe. They are sold at convenience stores, pharmacies and major retailers.

Police said people should never give MoneyPak numbers to people they don’t know, because as the money is immediately transferred out of the account, and once the money is transferred, it is lost.

Anyone with suspicions about a caller is urged to call the police station at 781-335-1212 to ask about a potential scam, or to perform an online search about the scam.